The present invention relates to a control device for automatic vending machine comprising terminal control units, each of which controls each unit of automatic vending machine separately, and a main control unit which communicates with the terminal control units and controls them collectively.
In a conventional control device for automatic vending machine, each unit of the automatic vending machine such as a sales control unit which controls a sales product sending mechanism, a coin treating control unit which controls a coin treating mechanism to discriminate a sort of coin, or a display control unit which controls a display of a price display device is separately controlled by each terminal control unit. And, a main control unit controls the terminal control units collectively while it communicates with them through a signal line.
Each of the terminal control units has a control program respectively and carries out predetermined controls. The main control unit has a control program to control each terminal control unit collectively and carries out predetermined control. The control program of the main control unit has a control program corresponding to each of the terminal control unit. Accordingly, if one of the terminal control units is replaced by a new type terminal control unit or if a new type terminal control unit is added, then the control program of the main control unit has to be renewed each time.
As a result, in case that the terminal control unit is replaced or is newly installed in the main control unit of automatic vending machine, a ROM in which a control program is written is replaced by a new ROM or an old program stored in a memory is rewritten to a new program by manual operation each time.
However, there is a problem in conventional control device of automatic vending machine that additional operation is necessary for replacement of the ROM or for rewriting of the memory, where the terminal control unit is replaced or is newly installed. Further, there is another problem that operation error occurs, because such additional operation is carried out by manual operation.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to solve the problems and to provide a control device of automatic vending machine in which a control program in a main control unit is automatically renewable in case that a terminal control unit is replaced or installed by new one, whereby time and labor for the operation can be reduced and operation errors can be prevented.
The above object of the invention can be attained by a control device for automatic vending machine comprising a plural terminal control units, each of which controls each unit of the automatic vending machine separately, and a main control unit which communicates with the terminal control units and controls them collectively, each of said terminal control unit having an identification code of each manufacturer and a version of control program corresponding thereto, and sending the identification code and the version to the main control unit in initial communication with the main control unit, and the main control unit receiving, based on the identification code of each manufacturer and the version of control program which are received from each of the terminal control unit, the control program corresponding to each terminal control unit connected thereto. According to the first embodiment of the invention, the control program in the main control unit is automatically renewable in case that the terminal control unit is replaced or installed by new one, whereby time and labor for the operation can be reduced and operation error can be prevented.
According to a second embodiment of the invention, the above object can be attained by a control device of automatic vending machine comprising the main control unit inspecting, based on the identification code of each manufacturer and the version of control program which are received from each of the terminal control unit, a ROM installed in the main control unit, a memory card put in an expanding slot, and an inner portion of external memory medium which can communicate in turn, and receiving a suitable control program from one of them. According to the second embodiment of the invention, the main control unit is interlocked with the terminal control unit connected thereto to find the control program thereof automatically and to rewrite it automatically.
According to a third embodiment of the invention, the above object can be attained by a control device of automatic vending machine comprising a main control unit and a program storing unit, said main control unit determining a program area for separate functions and an expanding program area and rewriting a control program partially per the area unit. According to the third embodiment of the invention, rewriting operations are carried out effectively, because an amount of data to be rewritten is less.
According to a fourth embodiment of the invention, the above object can be attained by a control device of automatic vending machine comprising a main control unit and a terminal control unit, said terminal control unit storing a control program of the main control unit to control the terminal control unit, and said main control unit receiving the control program from the terminal control unit in case that the terminal control unit is installed. According to the fourth embodiment of the invention, control or management of the computers becomes easier, because it is not necessary to keep corresponding programs in a memory or memory card of the main control unit or in a management computer.